Hovey & Beard Company Case
Katelyn O’Connor
Week 3
1. Discuss how the principles of job design and reinforcement theory apply to the performance problems at the Hovey and Beard Company.
Principals of Job design exhibited at the Hovey and Beard Company, a production company who made toys. Toy painters were experiencing the following problems: New painters learned at a slower pace (making the other painters lose money on rewards per piece) the assembly line hooks moved too fast, painters blamed management. Incentive pay wasn’t adequate for workers and it was too hot working so close to the drying ovens. One painter, who worked with the company the longest, was appointed by other painters to address their concerns with the supervisor. Supervisor listened and worked closely with painters to address their concerns; he worked well and incorporated the goal setting theory with the painters. Changing the work design of the painters work station, management used a positive reinforcement theory to make the painters part of the solution. Management installed fans, installing a timer on the hook device: fast, medium and slow, letting the workers choose the time of day to change the speed. Managers keep the incentives going with the learning bonus and the per piece reward. Also, update meetings were being held to keep everyone on the same page. Production was 50% higher. Other employees felt the inequity in the company, they were skilled labors and not making as much money as the painters, with this management stopped all incentives for the painters; everything went back to the original work environment, because management felt the negative reinforcement towards the skilled labors. Management should have looked into a more effective process. The supervisor, who managed the painters (equity theory), left the company to seek other employment
2. Analyze the performance problems using the "performance diagnosis model" in Chapter 7. Exhibit 7.6 Performance Diagnosis Model
When analyzing
Week 3
1. Discuss how the principles of job design and reinforcement theory apply to the performance problems at the Hovey and Beard Company.
Principals of Job design exhibited at the Hovey and Beard Company, a production company who made toys. Toy painters were experiencing the following problems: New painters learned at a slower pace (making the other painters lose money on rewards per piece) the assembly line hooks moved too fast, painters blamed management. Incentive pay wasn’t adequate for workers and it was too hot working so close to the drying ovens. One painter, who worked with the company the longest, was appointed by other painters to address their concerns with the supervisor. Supervisor listened and worked closely with painters to address their concerns; he worked well and incorporated the goal setting theory with the painters. Changing the work design of the painters work station, management used a positive reinforcement theory to make the painters part of the solution. Management installed fans, installing a timer on the hook device: fast, medium and slow, letting the workers choose the time of day to change the speed. Managers keep the incentives going with the learning bonus and the per piece reward. Also, update meetings were being held to keep everyone on the same page. Production was 50% higher. Other employees felt the inequity in the company, they were skilled labors and not making as much money as the painters, with this management stopped all incentives for the painters; everything went back to the original work environment, because management felt the negative reinforcement towards the skilled labors. Management should have looked into a more effective process. The supervisor, who managed the painters (equity theory), left the company to seek other employment
2. Analyze the performance problems using the "performance diagnosis model" in Chapter 7. Exhibit 7.6 Performance Diagnosis Model
When analyzing